Last month's BLS report initially indicated an increase of 300 jobs in legal services in May, but now the adjusted numbers point to a loss of 600 jobs that month. The new May figure coupled with the massive drop reported Friday highlights how tight the legal job market has been--the sector has lost 22,200 jobs since this time a year ago. (See the recent jobs reports for May, April, and March.)

The national unemployment rate actually fell from 9.7 percent to 9.5, due to a national labor force that dropped by 652,000 jobs, The New York Times reports. Almost half of the nation's unemployed, roughly 6.8 million people, have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. That figure is unchanged from last month's report.

The slight bump up in private sector positions came in the manufacturing and health industries--each saw an increase of 9,000 jobs. Not surprisingly, the "amusements, gambling, and recreating" sector saw a boost of 27,700 jobs, given the onset of summer.